Humans are amazing beings, so It is common for us to show phenomena and psychological processes that are far from what is considered normal and it is curious to study themThere are different phenomena such as cognitive dissonance, obedience to authority or choices influenced by our emotions that make us wonder how rational our behavior is and what influences they may have on our thinking or beliefs, sometimes leading us to act in contradictory ways to them.
We will see how these phenomena happen without being able to do, many times, a voluntary control on the part of the person who presents them.We do not want to say that they are negative or harmful for us, but having a better knowledge of them can help us to be a little more aware of what is happening in order to be able to act in a more functional and adaptive way.
In this article we will quote and explain some of the psychological phenomena that generate the most curiosity, trying to solve some of your questions.
Amazing psychological phenomena that will not leave you indifferent
The capacity and functions of the human mind never ceases to amaze and raise questions about different phenomena that occur. We like to think that we can control everything we think, feel and do, but on different occasions we find that it is difficult to achieve or maintain this control and that we end up acting in ways that we had never thought or conceived possible before.
It is for this reason that below we will mention some of the psychological phenomena that we have considered most curious and that may be of interest to you. Surely in more than one you can think of an example that has happened to you.
one. Cognitive dissonance
The phenomenon of cognitive dissonance proposed by Leon Festinger has been of great interest in Social Psychology, it refers to the fact that when two dissonant, different or contrary elements appear between them, a psychological state of malaise and discomfort is produced in the subject that they will try to reduce or eliminate, as well as avoid all types of information that cause the increase of this dissonance or discomfort. Thus, the author points out that this phenomenon is of motivational origin.
As we have said, this phenomenon has been extensively studied in the social field, carrying out different investigations to better study this process.This phenomenon typically appears when we behave contrary to our beliefs or thoughts, for example, if we have to give our opinion on a subject but we are forced to lie, a dissonance is likely to appear, although it will also have an influence if there is an external reason for it. justified or not, that is, if I express an opinion contrary to mine but I am paid for it, I will surely feel less dissonance than if I do not receive any reward in return.
2. Hallucinations
Hallucination is a term that usually causes great fear and we normally value it as something unusual that only the "crazy" or "sick" have, but this statement is not true since it has been proven that a third of the population has had a hallucination at some point in their lives.
Thus hallucinations are classified as a psychopathology of sensory perception, more specifically they are considered a perceptual deception, this is defined as the erroneous perception of a stimulus abroad without the existence of any object, this means that through one of the 5 senses, sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste, the subject perceives a presence when there really is nothing .
Thus, this curious phenomenon is one of the typical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, but it can also occur in other mental disorders and even in populations without the disorder, for example in situations of high stress, with many stimulation or the opposite of deprivation of stimuli are conditions where it is more likely that we can present hallucinations. Emphasize that the difference between the population without the disorder compared to those who do have it, is that in the latter the hallucinations are more frequent and are maintained over time, also showing other symptoms.
3. Obedience to authority
It is also known in Social Psychology the study carried out by Stanley Milgram where a group of experimental subjects were planted who had to give an electric shock to another individual, who was an accomplice, if he failed. In this way it was seen that 65% of the experimental subjects continued to apply discharges up to 450 volts, sufficient to kill the subject.
It was verified that despite the fact that the individuals showed discomfort, the majority continued with the experiment and they only needed the presence of an authority figure to remind them that they should continue , at no time were they prohibited from finishing. With the realization of this experiment, an attempt was made to explain behaviors as inhumane as those that occurred by the Nazis during the Holocaust, how an authority figure can make you perform behaviors that you never thought possible.
4. Choices influenced by emotions
Human beings are rational beings but there is another variable that influences our thinking and when we make a choice, this is emotion. People have these two parts, the rational and the emotional, which interact with each other and despite making us different from other living beings, sometimes the decisions or choices are not the most accurate.
At all times our emotions influence our day to day, our decisions and choices, since they are states that we cannot avoid and that they appear and influence us even if we don't want to, making our reaction not be as rational as it should be, despite the fact that we try to convince ourselves that it has been.
5. Placebo effect
The placebo effect is very surprising because it shows how powerful our mind can be This effect consists of the appearance of a change in the subject before taking a drug that really has no effect. To make it clearer, we propose the following example, a patient with a physiological affectation such as a headache is told that with this pill that pain will disappear, the curious thing will be to see how effectively the subject improves although the pill really had no beginning active and it was just sugar.
6. Social loafing
Social loafing is a term that has been used to refer to the decrease in motivation and work when performed in a group. Thus, we observe a decrease in effort when we do the work in groups compared to when we do it individually.
It may be because the subject thinks that her contribution will hardly be identified and valued or that it will be similar to others already made and therefore it is unnecessary. Thus, increasing group size will also increase inefficiency and laziness at work.
7. Thinking about our successes does not help our motivation
It has been seen that fantasizing and thinking about the successes we have already had does not help us to stay motivated. Focusing on the past, even on positive events, can distract us and not help us focus on current goals, in the present, thus reducing involvement and motivation directed at the present moment.
8. Wanting to suppress a thought increases its presence
It is usual and it will have happened to you that when you want to stop thinking about something and you force yourself to do it, the simple fact of denying the thought makes you keep thinking and it stays in the mind An example could be, if I tell you "don't think of a bear" you have inevitably already thought of it.
This is the typical process that happens to people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, in these subjects unpleasant ideas appear repeatedly that are called obsessions, these generate discomfort in the patient that will try to avoid them, but this purpose paradoxically causes them to increase.
9. The ability to divide our attention
Divided attention is a type of attention that allows us to be attentive and attend to different stimuli or tasks at the same time, that is, to be able to perform more than one action simultaneously.
It has been proven that for this to be possible, for divided attention to be effective and for us to multitask adequately, we need to master all or most of the tasks. In other words, I will be able to type on the computer and talk on the phone with a client in an optimal way and without problems, if I have trained both tasks and do them regularly.
10. Happiness is in the small details
It is normal and adaptive that we have goals for the future that are usually complex and require effort and time to achieve, but to stay motivated and achieve these long-term goals, it is necessary to have small rewards , small short-term goals that are easier to achieve and keep us strong to meet our final goal. Every reward, effort or achievement is to be valued and we should feel happy about it, it is the sum of these that will make us happy, every small advance is an achievement.